Coaxial cables are used for the transmission of signals to various devices such as televisions, stereo equipment, computers, VCRs, cable converters (sometimes referred to as set top boxes), electronic systems, etc. Some such coaxial cables include a centrally located wire conductor surrounded by an inner dielectric insulator. The inner dielectric insulator is encased by a metallic foil and a sleeve of fine braided metallic strands, or combinations of both foil and sleeve strands. An outer dielectric jacket surrounds and protects the sleeve.
Coaxial cable connectors are mounted at each end of the coaxial cable. A coaxial cable connector is generally tubular-shaped and has internal threads at a front end to receive a threaded interface port of an electronic device. A rear end of the connector is open to receive therein the coaxial cable. A noncompressible metal ferrule is mounted inside the cable connector to receive the inner dielectric insulator of the coaxial cable. The rear end of the cable connector is crimped or compressed to secure the cable connector to the coaxial cable.
Several tasks are accomplished manually to mount a cable connector to an end of a coaxial cable. First, a cable installer strips away a predetermined length of the outer dielectric jacket and the sleeve to expose the metallic foil and the inner dielectric insulator. Any remaining portions of the outer dielectric jacket and sleeve may be folded back over the outer dielectric jacket. The wire conductor protrudes well beyond an end of the dielectric insulator. The cable installer then uses one hand to grip one end of the coaxial cable and the other hand to grip the cable connector, inserts an end of the coaxial cable into the cable connector so that the wire conductor extends into the ferrule, and then forcibly pushes the cable connector further onto the coaxial cable such that the ferrule is forced between the sleeve of braided metallic strands and the metallic foil located about the dielectric insulator. The insertion of the ferrule between the sleeve and the metallic foil encasing the dielectric insulator provides a non-compressible metal structure inside the coaxial cable. The dielectric insulator is seated (e.g., inserted a predetermined distance) in the ferrule by inserting the dielectric insulator to an end of the ferrule. The seating of the dielectric insulator is verified by the cable installer looking into the front end of the cable connector to determine that the dielectric insulator is located adjacent the end of the ferrule. Then a compression tool is used to crimp or compress the rear end of the connector to the coaxial cable. The outer dielectric jacket and any metallic strands of the sleeve are compressed between the crimped rear end of the cable connector and the non-compressible metal ferrule to fasten the cable connector securely to the end of the coaxial cable. Finally, the installer cuts or trims the wire conductor to a predetermined length so the wire conductor extends slightly beyond the front end of the cable connector, and, as necessary, adjusts the wire conductor to the center of the cable connector.
The mounting of the cable connector to the cable requires manual dexterity and can be tiring. Further, the small size of the connector makes the connector awkward to handle. The mounting procedure is further complicated by the existence of different size coaxial cables and cable connectors. If the wrong size cable is inserted into a cable connector (e.g., the cable jacket is too large or too small), or the wire conductor is the wrong size relative to the electronic devices being connected by the coaxial cable, the procedure must be repeated to install the correct size cable and cable connector.